Direct Cremation Services

YOUR FAMILY IS OUR FAMILY

We promise each family we serve the highest level of:

The Process and What to Expect

More than 60 percent of people choose cremation over burial – a striking difference compared to 1960, when only 4 percent preferred cremation. The rising popularity in cremation is expected to continue, according to the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA). By 2040, the Association believes that more than 80 percent of people will see cremation as the right choice.


Why the shift? There are several reasons. One is how stress-free and simple the cremation process is, which typically looks like this:

We carefully remove the decedent from place of death

Once we are notified of your loved one’s death, Cremation Specialists will send one of our licensed teams to the place of death within a few hours. Our team will carefully remove the decedent and transport them to our climate-controlled facility.

We prepare all necessary forms and paperwork

There’s a lot of paperwork to do before cremation, and waiting for approval is what primarily delays the process. We will help prepare this paperwork to reduce the burden on you and expedite cremation.

The body is cremated inside of a special chamber

Once all forms are approved, we will transport your loved one to the crematory. There, the decedent is placed in a chamber and cremated over a course of three to four hours.

Your loved one’s remains are safely returned

The cremated ashes are then gathered and placed in a container for safekeeping. This container can be one we provide or one you provide, and if necessary, we can divide the remains into multiple containers.

Questions About Direct Cremation Services

  • How will I know if I have my loved one’s remains?

    We know a primary concern for our clients is whether they have received the right remains. Cremation Specialists are required by the state to verify each decedent’s identification throughout the process. This includes the use of an identifying metal disc that remains with the decedent at every step. This disc is unharmed by the cremator’s heat and is one of several methods we use to ensure your family receives the right remains.

  • Does direct cremation include a funeral or other memorial services?

    Direct cremation does not include a funeral or other memorial events. We are licensed to facilitate cremation only, which minimizes cost and confusion during the process.


    As such, we are not a funeral home and we don’t offer funeral planning or burial services. However, if your family would prefer a traditional service with cremation, we can assist with the cremation part of the process. This typically makes it easier for families to organize the rest of the memorial without being rushed.



Four Reasons Why Families Choose Direct Cremation Services

As mentioned, more and more people are choosing direct cremation instead of traditional services. Most people now consider it to be the right choice for themselves or their loved one, but why? There are many reasons, and here are four of the most common.

The costs of traditional funerals have skyrocketed

For years, the cost of a traditional funeral has outpaced the consumer price index, so even when accounting for inflation, funerals are much more expensive than they used to be. According to the NFDA, the median cost of a traditional funeral with burial is around $8,000, but that cost can be much higher in urban areas where burial plots are in short supply.



Most people would rather not leave such a financial burden on their families. Direct cremation doesn’t. Compared to the typical funeral, cremation can be performed for 10 percent of the cost.

Families are spread out geographically

Traditional funerals with burial made sense when families were confined to a single town, but that’s no longer the case. It’s common for modern families to live thousands of miles apart in different states.



That’s a challenge when it’s time to organize a funeral. First, it can be cost-prohibitive and logistically impossible to get everyone to gather for the funeral. Second, if the funeral is in a different state than where the decedent passed, they will need to be transported over state lines. Doing so typically means thousands more in additional costs.

In contrast, direct cremation prepares your loved one’s remains for easy, nearly cost-free transport.


It’s easier to organize your own memorial services

Traditional memorial services aren’t packaged with direct cremation, but many families prefer this. More and more people are uninterested in the formal, solemn nature of a traditional funeral and want something else for their family. Perhaps they just want their ashes scattered in a favorite spot or family members to gather casually.



Organizing traditional services means making a lot of decisions you may not want to make in the wake of your loved one’s death. With direct cremation services, you choose how to memorialize your loved one, in a way they would have preferred.


Cremation is the environmentally-friendly option

A traditional service and burial is difficult to fit into an environmentally-conscious mindset. Burial takes up precious land resources. Before burial, the body must be embalmed with chemicals that leach into the soil and water. If there’s a burial casket, that casket is likely made with wood that has been lacquered with additional chemicals, which have the same impact. All of this interferes with natural decomposition – working against nature instead of with it.



Direct cremation requires no land, no embalming and no chemically-finished materials. That makes cremation the greener option.